BMW workers reject pay deal

BMW employees at its Mini plant in Oxford have rejected a pay offer, which included a 2.21% basic pay increase, an additional increase of 1.79% for working an extra 30.1 hours a year, and a team bonus of 2%.

In a consultative ballot of almost 2,000 Unite members, 97% rejected the deal.

Roger Maddison, national officer at Unite, said: “There are more strings to this deal than a puppet show and the workers at BMW will not accept it.

“The truth is that BMW has made a pay offer of just over 2%. The rest of the deal comes with significant strings attached. The union never closed the door on talks and we are happy to get back around the table, but we are also making preparations to ballot our members for strike action.

A statement from BMW said: “The company had offered a genuine increase to the total cash remuneration of employees by 6% per year (4% increase in base pay effective 1 January 2012,†2% increase in variable pay via the team bonus). It is disappointing that the company’s offer of a 6% pay increase has been rejected. A date has been set to recommence negotiations with our union representatives.“†